Asian Chicken Soup with Curry and Corn
An aromatic chicken broth with sesame oil, garlic, ginger and curry, where the sweet corn catches the heat. Ready in 40 minutes.
The step that separates it from an ordinary chicken soup is the last one: the beaten egg is poured into the boiling broth in a thin stream while you keep stirring. That is what makes the fine egg threads. Tipped in all at once, you get scrambled egg floating in your soup.
The curry is mixed to a smooth paste with the rice wine before it goes in. Sprinkled dry over the pot it clumps and never disperses.
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, cut into thin strips
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1.25 l chicken stock (about 5 cups)
- 1 can (400 g) sweet corn kernels, drained
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 3 tbsp rice wine (or dry white wine, or a dry sherry)
- 1 tsp regular sugar
- 1 large egg
- Salt, to taste
Method
- 1
In a large pot over medium-high heat, warm 2 tablespoons of the sesame oil. Add the chicken strips, the chopped garlic and the grated ginger. Cook together for 4-5 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
- 2
Add the chicken stock and the drained corn. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to minimum and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.
- 3
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix the curry powder thoroughly with the 3 tablespoons of rice wine into a smooth, lump-free paste — sprinkled dry into the pot it would clump. Stir this into the simmering soup.
- 4
Add the sugar and adjust the salt. Let everything simmer for 5 minutes more.
- 5
In another small bowl, lightly beat the egg with the remaining tablespoon of sesame oil.
- 6
Lift the cooked chicken out of the soup for a moment. Pour the beaten egg into the pot slowly, in a thin stream, stirring the broth continuously — that is what forms the fine egg threads. Tipped in all at once you get scrambled egg. Return the chicken to the pot.
- 7
Stir once more, take the pot off the heat and serve immediately in deep, well-warmed bowls.
Chicken
Chicken is the wild card of everyday cooking: it stretches, it is cheap and it takes almost any technique. These are the recipes where it stops being a fallback and becomes the dish — stuffed, pan-fried, braised, with sauces built to keep it juicy instead of dry.
